Chapter 6: Beneath the Inn of the Damned

[Inferno]

Day Six.
Village of Briarsgate, Beneath the Golden Grain Inn (6).
Between midnight and 1am, Friday, October 21st, 576 CY.
Full moon, partly cloudy, damp, cold, misty.





"Snaaaaaaake!" In the lower regions beneath the damned village, a giant serpent descends from the cavern's ceiling onto Telkis! Dire images enter the gnome's mind unbidden as he envisions what dreadful things will soon happen to himself or one of his comrades:

Telkis envisions.jpg (127.92 KiB) Viewed 2729 times

The adventurers rush to the gnome warrior's aid as best they can across the uneven ground of the tight warren! Ingrid doesn't make it.

The cold temperatures slow the enormous constrictor, but its speed is still formidable! Looming above them, its alien, reptilian intelligence hungrily scans its many prey for a victim. Having decided, its gigantic head slithers through the air over Moogeye and enters Ingrid's field of vision!

The resourceful cleric casts an arcane bit of folk magick she had picked up during her travels with Khorst Maltess and Henri Kolde, the vampire hunters, in an attempt to charm the mammoth reptile! She barely succeeds against the colossal leviathan, and the cold-blooded giant suddenly becomes captivated with the priestess of Trithereon. The immense snake faces south, toward Ingrid, and sways rhythmically... entranced... momentarily helpless.

That's all the time the others need. Grothnak, Long Bo, Moogeye and Telkis stab, hack and bludgeon the scaly monster to death. Lifeless, thick coils unwind from the ceiling nest and collapse in a bloody heap on the muddy ground.

Long Bo, who had struck with his spear from the second rank behind Telkis, looks into the half-lit northeast tunnel (21). It's an empty dead end, but a rough-hewn, man-sized hole in its low ceiling disgorges an icy breeze that carries the foul stink of death. He notifies the others.

Actions?





Moments earlier, when Bo readied spear and shield to rush to Telkis' aid, he left his lantern behind. Avril positions herself to use its light to monitor four tunnels at once, ready to support the others if needed.

Noble Pelias, not wishing to abandon Avril, especially in such close proximity to the revolting, otherworldly malignancy (at '?'), joins her on watch. With the shadows and light of Bo's lantern playing across the nauseating shape of the unspeakable thing, the young paladin concentrates in its direction. Pelias detects that the unholy altar radiates foul, insidious evil, the likes of which he's never encountered before today. But the loathsome serpentine abhorrence emanates nothing at all!

Actions?





Map:

Beneath the Inn of the Damned 24.jpg (430.75 KiB) Viewed 2729 times

• • The lighter areas mark visibility. All else is from memory and the PCs' map.
    Each square is 5 feet. Movement in tunnels is halved. Red marks the dead.

DM Notes:

Cold temperature halves the giant constrictor's movement, and gives -2 to hit and initiative.
Initative: Party: [1d6] = 4, Monster: [1d6-2] = 6-2 = 4 Tied.
Serpent targets: GU (1-2), MC (3-4), TB (5-6), LB (7): [1d7] = 3 Serpent targets Moogeye and, in the move segment, moves toward her, into Ingrid's field of vision, allowing Ingrid to cast her spell.
Ingrid has just enough maximum hit points to charm this thing!
No Saving Throw for Snake Charm. Snake cannot attack, and is automatically hit, as per DMG p. 67.
All 4 attacking PCs hit.

Status:

• Avril Hollysword, Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric 1/1: AC 7, HP 4/9, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, Lantern nearby
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP 16/17
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 5/16, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 1/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP 2/15, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: AC 8, HP 2/11
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2(0), HP 8/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 3/19, Lantern nearby

Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo

Absolutely excellent job Ingrid! I thought we were doomed for sure in our current sad condition.

Lets get some light in here! I think this might be a way out of this hell.

After illuminating the dead end cavern, Bo takes a closer look at the hole and tries to discern where it might lead to.

[AleBelly]

"Most peculiar!" announces Pelias to nobody at all in particular. "That amorphous creature is not itself evil. But the altar it...guards?...emanates an evil that far surpasses any I have felt until this very day. Perhaps it can be defeated - if we are at full strength. Shall we explore this portal our friends have so gallantly uncovered? I will lead if others give me a light and a boost!"

[Zhym]

Grothnak looks up at the hole in the ceiling. "A solution exists," he says, displaying a newfound talent for mathematics.

He turns back to the south. "We may not be able to come back here," he says. "I must know if the thing behind the altar is a threat. Those who are still strong enough may come with me." He returns to the room of evil, where he cautiously enters—after checking the ceiling for snakes—to get a better view of the abomination. He will avoid the altar itself.

[Starbeard]

Moogeye cleans her weapon of its serpentine viscera.

"If it is evil, it is most assuredly a threat," she says. "Let us know whether it is a threat worth disturbing at the moment—I will pass the meantime examining this exit."

She attempts to examine the basic properties of the hole in the ceiling: how high up it goes, whether it seems to lead directly to the surface, whether it is covered, and whether someone can reasonably attempt shimmying up it without having to first throw a rope and hook. She does this in part by retrieving and lighting her bullseye lantern, hanging it from the hook of her pole arm and hoisting it up the hole with the bullseye cover removed.

[AleBelly]

"Your bravery is admirable, Grothnak. But too plentiful of a good quality may spoil its virtue. I implore you to wait until we know if the ceiling portal allows us egress. We may yet have to fight our way out. We should not weaken ourselves further if we need our strength to escape this wretched dungeon" argues Pelias.

[dmw71]

Avril is prepared to follow Grothnak if he continues with his plan of examining the 'thing' just down the hallway, but will linger in her current position long enough, if possible, to learn if a potential exit has been found.

[Zhym]

"We are in this place for a reason," Grothnak answers the paladin. "We must find what evil has overcome this town. This—" he says, pointing to into the altar room "—is important. We have to know more about it if we are to help this town."

The half-orc wrinkles his brow in thought, an effect that makes the fingers of the white hand tattooed on his face seem to flex. "I must investigate," he declares, stepping into the room.

[dmw71]

Avril follows the half-orc.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis will examine the hole or shaft to try to determine its stability. "One more bite from a giant snake, or any other vermin for that matter, and I'm done for," he says. "If we are forced to fight now, one or more of us will fail to make it out of this hole, I fear." Still, he holds little hope of disuading Grothnak - he knows better than that by now. After getting a look at the hole, he'll follow the half-orc to the altar room, fighter loyalty and all that.

[Inferno]

Day Six.
Village of Briarsgate, Beneath the Golden Grain Inn (6).
Between midnight and 1am, Friday, October 21st, 576 CY.
Full moon, partly cloudy, damp, cold, misty.





Deep under the ground, the adventurers separate again.

The wounded heroes, Bo, Moogeye, Pelias and Telkis, peer up into the dank, dark, foul smelling hole in the ceiling of the dead end (21). They don't believe what they see!

Meanwhile, Grothnak and Avril slowly advance into the chamber of the unholy altar (24). They cautiously approach the terrifying, shocking depravity. Suddenly...

To be continued!

I'm going on vacation. Back in about ten days. See you then.

[OGRE MAGE]

Nice cliffhanger!!! This is akin to the power going out in the middle of a Walking Dead episode.

Enjoy your vacation!

[ChubbyPixie]

Good one.

[Fulci]

Ingrid Esthof, cleric

Ingrid, knowing that she is still one of the "better off" (in terms of health and fighting capabilities) members of the group, follows Grothnak and Avril...

'Please, Trithereon, let it be a statue...' she mutters to herself, knowing that this is the kind of humor her god usually displays, even in the midst of grave danger.

[Inferno]

Day Six.
Village of Briarsgate, Beneath the Golden Grain Inn (6).
Between midnight and 1am, Friday, October 21st, 576 CY.
Full moon, partly cloudy, damp, cold, misty.





Under the ground, embraced by the cold, dark earth, the investigators of Briarsgate believe they've found an escape from the tunnels of the living dead.

They separate again, this time with harsh words. Bo, Moogeye and Telkis move to the dank, foul-smelling hole, framed by small stalactites in the ceiling of a dead end (21).



Moogeye borrows Ingrid's lantern from Telkis, affixes it to her polearm and hoists it up into the black maw that vomits a fell wind. The lantern flame flickers in the charnel breeze as it illuminates the muddy walls of a small shaft that rises straight up three feet and then veers west, according to Telkis' sense of direction. It might be a way out! But the channel is so tight, it can only be crawled through, single file.

The stalwart gnome grimly notes this thin shaft is as structurally unsound as the tunnels, and prepares to join his fellow warrior.

Suddenly, bloodcurdling screams are heard from the south!


Actions?





Moments earlier, Avril, Grothnak and Ingrid move toward the chamber of the unholy altar (24). They cautiously advance upon the terrifying, shocking depravity therein. ('?')

the ghastly abomination.jpg (154.28 KiB) Viewed 2649 times

Avril holds Bo's lantern as they slowly creep into the room of evil, watching the ceiling for more serpents. The lantern casts Grothnak and Ingrid's shadows forward where they slither across the blasphemous form of the inanimate abomination. Suddenly, stark realization dawns. The macabre horror of loathing and revulsion is a lifeless sculpture, carved from bone or ivory. The heinous likeness is startlingly real; its nightmarish detail clearly fashioned by the hand of a genius... or a madman.

The profane altar is stained with blood, and a small shrine is set into the northern wall, backed by a blood red curtain and framed by symmetrical statues. Between them stands a broken coffin.

the shrine.jpg (311.44 KiB) Viewed 2649 times

Deep within the coffin's black shadows lurks one of the cadaverous horrors that had attacked the heroes earlier in the northern warren! (X1)

the thing beneath the inn.jpg (104.08 KiB) Viewed 2649 times

Suddenly, its heinous sibling (X3) lunges out from the shadows on the southwest wall and ferociously savages the surprised half-orc warrior with a relentless hunger that would never be sated. Brave Grothnak is severely wounded by the feral onslaught of blood-encrusted claws and fangs! (-11 hp!) He feels an insidious, deathly chill threaten to take him! (Please Save once vs. Paralyzation)

Having provided a distraction for its unholy brother's ambush, the undead cannibal in the coffin (X1) now comes shrieking out, consecrated by the depraved power of this unhallowed sanctum.


Actions?





Map:

Beneath the Inn of the Damned 25.jpg (403.01 KiB) Viewed 2649 times

• • The lighter areas mark visibility. All else is from memory and the PCs' map.
    Each square is 5 feet. Movement in tunnels is halved. Red marks the dead.

Dice Rolls:

Party surprised? (1-2): [1d6] = 2 Party is surprised.
X3: To hit Grothnak: claw, claw, bite: [1d20] = 19, [1d20] = 20, [1d20] = 19 X3 hits three times. Once critically.
X3: Damage on Grothnak: [1d3] = 3, [1d3] = 1, [1d6] = 6 11 total, with critical hit.

Status:

• Avril Hollysword, Half-Elf Fighter/Cleric 1/1: AC 7, HP 4/9, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, Bo's Lantern
  Grothnak Uthglukh, Half-Orc Fighter 2: AC 4, HP 5/17
  Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 3: AC 3(1), HP 5/16, Spells: 0/4 1st lvl and 1/3 2nd lvl
  Long Bo, Human Druid 2: AC 6, HP 2/15, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl and 0/2 2nd lvl
  Moogeye Comcra, Human Monk 2: AC 8, HP 2/11, Ingrid's Lantern
  Pelias Blanchflower, Human Paladin 2: AC 2(0), HP 8/19, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 2: AC 0, HP 3/19

Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Pelias): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Pelias.

Resources:

• Map of Briarsgate
  NPC List for Briarsgate
  The Story So Far (in words)
  The Story So Far (in pictures)

[Zhym]

Grothnak freezes up.

Save vs. paralysis (14): [1d20] = 10

[Fulci]

Ingrid Esthof, cleric

"Here, we are under attack!" shouts Ingrid, hoping that their companions will take notice.

She swings her mace at the closest abomination (X3).
Mace (THAC0: 20): To Hit: [1d20] = 6, damage: small [1d6+1] = 6+1 = 7 / large [1d6] = 4

[dmw71]

Avril, realizing the small group is in a desperate situation, produces her silver holy symbol and, with a confident prayer to Corellon Larethian, presents it boldly in front of her in the direction of the undead beasts. "Begone, vile beasts!" she says, a quiver in her voice.

Turn attempt (Ghoul? = 16): [1d20] = 10

[Starbeard]

Moogeye Comcra

Upon hearing the hollering behind them, Moogeye lowers her polearm and retrieves Telkis' lantern from it. She runs toward the scene (24) using the lantern for guidance, keeping pace with her companions so that they can use the lantern as well.

As they move, she speaks. "My weapon requires two hands—if one of you can take the lantern, do so. Otherwise I fight with my fist."

[AleBelly]

"Those fools" grumbles Pelias as he stays just ahead of Moogeye. "Our corpses are incapable of ridding Briarsgate of this evil...but we seemed determined to become such" he huffs as he charges into the room, attacking the first foe he sees.

"I suggest you place the lantern at the mouth of the room we're to enter" he says to the monk if he has time.

Attack with long sword (THAC0 19) [1d20] = 19, damage [1d8] = 3